


Scrapbooks Full of Me in the Background

by celeste9



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Jealousy, M/M, Secrets, Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-30
Updated: 2014-05-30
Packaged: 2018-01-27 15:21:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1715357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celeste9/pseuds/celeste9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leon finds himself upstaged when his twin brother comes to town and meets Gwaine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scrapbooks Full of Me in the Background

**Author's Note:**

> Written for 'secret twin/doppelganger' on my trope_bingo card. This gives me a blackout! Thanks to clea2011 and deinonychus_1 for the beta. Title from 'Rose's Turn' from Gypsy. Yeah, I don't know, either.

Introducing Luc to Gwaine was a mistake. Leon realised this.

Of course, it wasn’t like he had done it on purpose.

Leon hadn’t even known that Luc was going to be in town, and the fact that he just happened to stumble into the same pub where Leon and Gwaine were having dinner and beers was a terrible, unlucky coincidence.

“Leon,” Gwaine said, uncommonly serious. He was looking over Leon’s shoulder, towards the door, his eyes wide. “Have you been cloned without your knowledge?”

“If it was without my knowledge, I wouldn’t know, would I?” Leon followed the line of Gwaine’s eyes and, sure enough, there was Luc.

“Leon?” Luc bounded over to them. “Fancy running into you!”

“Oh my God, are you a clone?” Gwaine asked, staring from one to the other. His expression was warring between shock and delight. “Which one of you is the real Leon?”

“I’m Leon,” Leon said, trying not to roll his eyes. He doubted he was successful.

Luc stuck his hand out. “I’m Luc, Leon’s much more handsome twin brother.”

Gwaine looked like he had died and gone to heaven. “You have a secret twin? That’s even better than clones! Tell me every horrible, dirty secret you know about Leon, right now. I’ve got time.” As if to emphasise his point, he patted the seat beside him, welcoming Luc to join them. He went so far as to push over his plate of chips. Gwaine _never_ shared his chips.

Luc sat down, grinning at Leon, his smile as wide as Gwaine’s.

Leon squirmed. Yes, a very, very big mistake.

-

Luc had a new job, apparently. He was going to be moving right there, to live in London. That was why he was in town. Of course, he hadn’t anywhere to live yet and because Leon was a wonderful brother, he suggested that Luc stay with him. Even though Luc hadn’t so much as phoned to let Leon know he was coming. He had just assumed Leon would help him.

And Leon did. Because he was a wonderful brother.

Leon sighed. He hated being a wonderful brother.

It was lucky that Gwaine didn’t mind suddenly gaining an extra roommate. Actually, he seemed quite excited about the whole thing, in a worrisome way.

Leon was also a wonderful friend. That was why he never kicked Gwaine out, even though Gwaine was a terrible roommate. He didn’t clean up after himself and he made noise far into the night and he liked to throw huge, loud, messy parties that were nothing but an excuse to get drunk and get laid.

But Gwaine was Leon’s friend, for some reason that escaped him, so he put up with everything.

Everything. Even this.

Gwaine was staring between Leon and Luc. “Your faces are absolutely identical,” he said.

“Not the only thing that’s absolutely identical,” Luc said with a grin.

Leon hid a wince.

“Have you two ever--”

“No,” Leon interrupted, because he knew that was a question he did not want to hear in full.

“Shame,” Gwaine said. “It’s lucky you dress differently, though. At least then people can tell you apart. And your hair.”

Their mum had tried the identical clothes and haircuts thing when they were little, but it hadn’t lasted long. Luc’s hair had always ended up looking shaggier, likely because he had an aversion to combs and liked to muss it with his hands. Even when they had dressed the same, Leon had always been neat and clean whilst Luc got dirt and God knew what else on himself. Then as they’d grown older, Luc had gravitated towards t-shirts and jeans, generally anything ratty-looking, while Leon preferred pressed shirts and well-fitted trousers. Leon was proud of the fact that he only ever looked less than perfectly kempt when he was playing sport.

“Luc, don’t you have somewhere to be?” Leon said.

“No, I--”

“Luc.”

Luc grinned. “Oh, right. Yeah, I have a thing. See you later, roomies.”

After Luc had walked out the door, Gwaine directed a somewhat accusatory gaze at Leon. This seemed uncalled for, as Gwaine had been clearly enjoying himself quite a lot. Until right now, apparently. “How did I not know you had a twin brother?” he asked. “We’ve been mates for ages. This seems like the sort of thing that should have come up.”

“Didn’t I mention him?” Leon said idly, knowing full well he hadn’t. It wasn’t that he’d been keeping Luc a secret, exactly. It was more that… well.

Leon might have been keeping Luc a secret from Gwaine.

Leon had often wondered what those involved in the nature v. nurture debate would make of him and Luc. They had shared everything from the womb on and yet… Well, Leon was Leon and Luc was Luc.

To put it succinctly, Luc was everything Leon wasn’t. He was loud and outgoing, gregarious, the life of the party. Everyone loved Luc and Luc loved everyone. He was funny and enjoyed attention. He was also irresponsible, messy, lazy, and more than a bit slutty. Leon had often felt the desire to scrub himself raw after Luc so much as patted his shoulder, for fear of catching something.

Small wonder he seemed to be hitting it off so well with Gwaine.

“You should have told me,” Gwaine said, jarring Leon out of his thoughts. He looked upset.

“I’m sorry,” Leon said, not quite sure why Gwaine was taking this so seriously. Gwaine tended to take nothing seriously.

“I thought I was your friend.”

“You are.”

“Apparently not that good a one,” Gwaine said, and stalked off.

Leon sighed. Luc never failed to be the source of innumerable unforeseen problems.

-

“So,” Luc said, barging into Leon’s room and draping himself gracelessly on Leon’s bed. Leon was tempted to kick him in the face. “You and Gwaine.”

Leon said nothing.

“Shagging yet?”

Leon pretended to be utterly immersed in his book.

“That’s a no, then. Why the hell not? He seems just your type.”

Leon put down his book. “What? How is he possibly my type?”

Luc’s smile was disturbingly suggestive. “You tell me.”

Picking up his book again, Leon said, “I’m not doing this with you.”

“No, you should be doing it with Gwaine.”

“If I had less respect for books, I would throw this one at your head.”

“Ah, I missed you, Leon,” Luc said, leaning over to ruffle Leon’s hair before sliding off the bed to walk back out of Leon’s bedroom.

Leon practiced the deep breathing his therapist had taught him. It made him feel slightly calmer.

Of course, Luc couldn’t know how his words cut. Gwaine had been actively avoiding Leon since their disagreement. Instead, he was palling around with Luc.

And why shouldn’t he? Everyone loved Luc. Luc was so funny, and Luc always showed you a good time, and Leon was so uptight, why couldn’t he be more like his brother?

Deep breaths. In, out. One, two, three, four.

It wasn’t like Leon _cared_ if Gwaine was mad at him, or if Gwaine didn’t want to spend time with him, or if Gwaine liked Luc better than him. That was fine. It wasn’t like they had been roommates since day one of university, and reluctant friends since some point later that first year (Leon was never quite able to decide when he had mostly - _mostly_ \- stopped wanting to kill Gwaine).

Gwaine could do whatever he liked. It was no concern of Leon’s.

None at all.

-

“And now I hardly ever see him, it’s like he’s avoiding me. Avoiding me! He spends all his time with Luc!”

Arthur was starting to get this glazed-over look in his eyes. “You should apologise.”

Leon spluttered. “For what?” Gwaine was the one at fault, clearly. Gwaine was the one who was acting like a child. Not that that was unusual behaviour for him.

“For not telling him you had a twin brother.”

“But... why should I?” Leon really couldn’t see the issue. And anyway, he had said he was sorry, hadn’t he?

“Because,” Arthur said, his expression coming over pained, “and believe me, I never thought I’d be saying this, you’ve hurt his feelings. Who even knew Gwaine had feelings to be hurt? But clearly he does, and you’ve done it.”

“I don’t see why--”

“Leon,” Arthur interrupted. He was using his imperious voice. “Stop being a twat.”

Leon closed his mouth.

-

While Leon still wasn’t convinced that he was in error, he decided to take Arthur’s advice. He could be the bigger person here. If Gwaine was upset, Leon could apologise, even if he didn’t quite know how he was at fault. He certainly didn’t want to lose his friendship because of _Luc._

So Leon made dinner. This was rather a grand gesture, because Gwaine couldn’t cook at all. He was lucky if he didn’t burn his toast, and the flat down with it. He ate a lot of takeaway.

Leon made dinner, and then he sat at the dining room table and waited for Gwaine to come home. He was late, but that wasn’t unheard of. Gwaine wasn’t the most punctual of people.

But Leon waited, and waited, and still Gwaine didn’t come home. The food went cold and eventually, Leon got up, reheated a plate, and ate alone, in silence. Then he stuffed the rest into tupperwares and put it all in the refrigerator. He carefully labeled it, _For Gwaine._

Not that it mattered, Gwaine would eat it even without his name being on it. He had a talent for pilfering food. Of course, Luc might eat it no matter what it said.

Oh, well.

Leon was still up when Gwaine did come home. He suspected he would have awoken even if he had been asleep, though, on account of all the noise.

Gwaine and Luc stumbled into the flat, laughing and bumping into things, clearly drunk off their arses.

Leon got up, closed his bedroom door, turned off the light, and pretended to be asleep. He heard them in the kitchen, the clash of plates and the ping of the microwave, and knew they’d found the leftovers. They kept laughing. Luc had been like that their entire childhood, thinking everything was a joke, and Gwaine was mostly the same.

He heard them crashing through the hall towards the bedroom, both of them, instead of just Gwaine. Luc had been sleeping on the sofa. The door slammed, and there was no more noise in the hall. Just the muffled sounds of them talking in Gwaine’s room.

Leon pulled his pillow over his head and hummed to himself so he wouldn’t hear anything else.

-

Two days later, Leon was in the hall, on his way out, when Gwaine came home.

“Leon,” Gwaine said, stopping in front of the door. He was holding a pizza box. “Are you going somewhere?”

“Just... out,” Leon said, as he hadn’t had any definite plan beyond, ‘leave the flat’. Preferably before he had to see Gwaine and his new BFF Luc.

“But it’s pizza night.” Gwaine looked faintly crestfallen. “There’s crap telly to be watched!”

“I thought you’d be out with Luc.”

“But... pizza night!”

“I’m sorry, Gwaine,” Leon said, turning aside. “I thought you would have forgotten.”

Gwaine set the pizza down on the floor, for lack of any other available surface close to hand.

Leon shuddered.

“I wouldn’t forget. Did you really think I would?”

Declining to turn his gaze towards Gwaine, Leon said, “I suppose I thought you’d rather go out with Luc.”

“Why?”

“Why?” And now Leon did turn to Gwaine, leveling an accusatory glare at him. “Because you’ve been going out with him every night, that’s why.” And possibly shagging him. Leon was too afraid to find out for certain.

“Is this about--”

Once Leon had started, he found he couldn’t stop. “Do you want to know why I never told you about Luc, Gwaine? I didn’t tell you because this is _always_ what happens. People meet Luc and then they only want to spend time with him, because Luc is fun and I’m... not. I knew you’d hit it off, and you have. So you don’t have to stay for our stupid pizza night, I can watch rubbish TV on my own.”

Gwaine was silent for a long time, which was extremely odd. “Has it occurred to you that some people might actually prefer you to your brother?”

The reply was out of Leon’s mouth nearly before he could even consider it. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because Luc is... He’s fun to be around, and I’m... I’m too serious, stuffy, and uptight.”

“Yes, you are,” Gwaine said, with a fondness that Leon couldn’t ignore. “I like you _because_ you’re too serious, stuffy, and uptight.”

“You don’t have to patronise me. I’m the one who’s had to live with Luc my whole life, I’m the one who-- Well, people don’t choose me. They choose him.”

Gwaine’s brown eyes held a hint of sadness. “Is Luc a boyfriend-stealer? Did he steal all your boyfriends growing up?”

Leon flushed. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’d never be interested in anyone who would date _Luc._ ”

“All right, good. Because then you can still go out with me.”

“With you?”

“Yeah. Because whatever you want to believe, I prefer you, Leon. A hundred times over.”

Leon swallowed, his mouth feeling suddenly dry. “You... you do?”

Laughing softly, Gwaine said, “For someone who used to brag so much about his top marks, you can be remarkably clueless. Bloody hell, Leon, you’ve been my best mate for years. Did you honestly think I would forget about all that, just because your brother showed up?”

Leon suddenly felt rather stupid. “I suppose not.”

“Because I wouldn’t,” Gwaine said, and Leon wasn’t sure how he had come to be standing so close. He was wearing too much cologne, and it was the same cheap brand he always used, no matter how many cutting remarks Leon made about it.

For whatever reason, Leon realised that it actually smelled quite nice. He inhaled.

Gwaine kissed him. It was a lot more tentative than Leon would have expected, like he was waiting for permission, or for Leon to push him away.

Leon brought his hand up to the back of Gwaine’s neck and held him closer. Gwaine made a sort of noise in his throat that was rather appealing, his lips parting.

“The pizza’s going to be cold,” Leon felt obliged to point out, his breath coming quicker than normal.

“I don’t care,” Gwaine said, palming Leon’s arse in one large hand.

Leon decided he didn’t care, either. Just this once.

**_End_ **


End file.
